Stockholm Sun

June in Stockholm is a pretty amazing time of year.  As I sat in a taxi cab at 4AM on my way back to my in-law's place, after a night of video games and poker with Swedish Bridge Champion Peter Bertheau, the sun was shining.  It's a very rare sight to see a major city, in nearly full daylight with completely empty streets.  I've been searching for a while to find the motivation to restart my blog and for some reason, as the car crossed over a bridge between Gamla Stan (the old town) and Sodermalm (southern island), the peaceful image of the city made me want to write again.

My wife Jenny is in her 26th week of pregnancy.  Our little girl is expected on September 2nd. These three weeks between the New York regional and my next tournament in Penticton, BC, Canada were a perfect opertunity to come to Stockholm to visit her family.  As the due date creeps closer and closer,  the nervous feeling of how far away both of our families live is amplifying.  

One of the small costs of the baby is that I will be on the sidelines for my favorite bridge event of the year, one which I have only had the privilege  of playing once because of my Canadian Citizenship is coming up in a week or two;  The USBF Championships in White Plains, NY (click here for Who's playing?  Vugraph schedule) .  The event will crown two winning teams to represent the USA for the Bermuda Bowl in Brazil at the end of the summer.  It is always the most exciting tournament of the year to watch, they play 120 board matches and somehow even if a team has the lead by 100 imps, the matches always seem to end with a single digit margin.

A few other junior bridge players and I are in the process of creating a brand new modern bridge website and my blog will soon be moved over there, check back for more info.  Thanks to anyone who still checks around here, I will soon be posting a lot more conventions and pictures.